The Christmas Ship
by Alisa Pearce
Summary: Hedge fund manager Edward Cullen didn't make the Forbes list this year and thinks he's a failure, just like his father and teachers in small-town Forks always told him. Only one person ever believed in him, but he left her behind to chase his fortune in New York City. Can a festive Seattle tradition bring magic and love back to his life? *TOP 10 COMPLETED FICS OF DEC 2015* AH, HEA.
1. Chapter 1

_**Summary:** __Hedge fund manager Edward Cullen didn't make the Forbes list this year and thinks he's a failure, just like his father and teachers in small-town Forks always told him. Only one person ever believed in him, but he left her behind to chase his fortune in New York City._ _Can a festive Seattle tradition bring magic and love back to his life? Holiday themes, sweet romance, AH, E/B, HEA._ _ ******_ **Voted** **Top Ten Completed Fics of Dec 2015 on TwiFanfictionRecs ****

 _ **Co-Authors:** Sophia Amador and Alisa Pearce_

 _ **A/N:**_ _This story is inspired by an anonymous Facebook post shared by_ _Thats-So-Alex:_

" _When I was in seventh grade, I used to have the biggest crush on this kid and we were literally best friends, and he knew that I liked him already for more than a year. This one day we were passing notes in class, and I told him that I knew the future and the future said we get married, but he said liar and we made a bet of $20 that we wouldn't get married. He ended up moving to NYC until he moved back two years ago. On our wedding day he handed me the notes and the $20 and said 'you won.'"_

 _ **Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author(s). The author(s) is/are in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Twilight is owned by Stephenie Meyer._

* * *

Fog and ice didn't merge well, Edward decided, surveying the Seattle night through the plate glass window in his top-floor study. Fog could be soft and mystical, and ice could lend a chill and brittle beauty to the world, but when brought together, the bitter damp knifed to the bone. He leaned an elbow on the rich leather of his chair and swirled a glass of whisky in long fingers. Tendrils of fog eddied over the tops of the cedars in the yard beneath. The lights of the city were blurred by mist, and he could see almost nothing of the town of Redmond across Lake Washington.

Not that there was anything he cared to see.

He lifted his drink and gulped it down.

"Goodness, Edward, what are you doing sitting all alone here in the dark?" His sister breezed in to the room, the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg swirling in with her along with a blast of icy air.

"I'm working, Alice. And I'd prefer to be left alone, if you don't mind."

"Working? Don't be silly. You're sitting in the dark drinking. You need to go outside. Don't you know what's happening?"

"Much as you may wish it otherwise, the financial engine that powers your shopping sprees doesn't run itself. Thinking and planning are just as essential to business as social interactions."

Alice scoffed, shaking her pixie hair, and dropped a package on his desk. She darted to the balcony doors and flung them wide.

"What are you doing?" He pulled his flannel bathrobe more tightly around him. "It's freezing out there. They're saying Seattle's facing record-breaking cold."

"The Christmas Ships are here!" She ran to the edge of the balcony and peered over the railing. "They're docking at the Windermere Beach Club in five minutes. You must stand out here and listen."

He groaned. "Alice, I'm too busy for this. You may have plenty of time for frivolous activities like sitting around listening to a bunch of hackneyed old songs played over cheap loudspeakers, but I don't."

"Shhh!" cried Alice. "They're beginning!"

Grumbling to himself, Edward got out of the chair. If he didn't humor Alice for at least a few minutes, she wouldn't leave him alone. But then he was going to go in, get out of the cold and get back to work on his drinking.

He strode to the balcony and stood looking out over the twinkling lights of the hills, misty in the icy fog, stretching all the way down to the dark mass of Lake Washington, now dotted with an array of fully lighted ships steaming south along the lake.

"What a waste of electricity," he groused.

"Oh come on," said Alice. "This has been a Seattle tradition for over 60 years. All the Christmas lights are so gorgeous. And festive. And the choirs sing so sweetly. You can't tell me it doesn't warm even your ice cold heart."

" _Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen …"_

The voices rang out over the lake. Talk about over-amplified. Surely everyone in Seattle could hear them. Or certainly everyone in the neighborhoods of Windermere, Laurelhurst, and Sand Point. Why more people didn't complain about the disturbance was beyond him. Edward gazed at the glittering lights outlining the string of ships streaming along the dark lake.

He felt a sudden stirring. They were beautiful.

He had been planning to go back inside after a few minutes of listening to please Alice.

But this year the singers' voices were so strong, so heartfelt. He leaned on the railing to get a better view. He could stay out in the cold and listen just a little bit longer.

" _Where the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even…"_

He found himself smiling. The soloist had an exceptional voice.

" _Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger…"_

It brought back a memory that he hadn't thought about in ages. A memory from his childhood back in Forks. From long before he had decided to leave that pathetic small town to find opportunity and wealth in the big city. He had made his fortune in New York City as a hedge fund manager, but had grown tired of the cold and fast-paced life. Alice had convinced him to move his company headquarters to Seattle for a more congenial atmosphere, but to be frank, he hadn't made any friends here either.

They called it the "Seattle chill."

" _Fails my heart, I know not how. I can go no longer…"_

Not that it mattered to him. He was too busy building his business empire to make friends.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _The Christmas Ships are a real Seattle tradition and we researched all the facts in this story hoping to make it as accurate as possible. Thanks for reading._

 _If you like it, please review. Thanks! ~Alisa_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** Thanks so much for your response to our story! If anyone wants to get the flavor of the Seattle Christmas Ships, try these YouTube videos: youtube dotcom/watch?v=LiyhmLyavIQ or __youtube dotcom_ _/watch?v=8zC57HVo6RE (replace the dot, remove the spaces)._

* * *

Edward gripped the icy balcony rail and gazed across the lake, not even feeling the cold. Laughter rose from the Beach Club below. More ships sailed into view around the point, decked out with red, green, blue, and orange Christmas lights lining their rigging. The mist had cleared and the lights reflected off the opalescent clouds hanging low over the lake.

" _It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old…"_

Something about the singer's voice stirred his heart. She had a beautiful voice. But for some reason it made him incredibly sad. It reminded him of that time, back in Forks, when he had—

"Alice," he said abruptly, "let's go down to the dock."

She put her hand to her chest in mock astonishment. "What? Edward, I don't think you've ever been to the Beach Club, much less to the shore of Lake Washington. Wasn't it you who said it was a waste of time to go to the beach since there was no wi-fi?"

Edward glared at her. "I'm not nearly as much of a stick-in-the-mud as you make me out to be. I went to Matthews Beach just last summer."

She shook her hair out of her eyes and laughed. "Only because one of your clients had a party there and you had to attend. As a matter of fact, I remember very clearly someone complaining. Now let me see." She put a finger to her mouth. "Oh yes." She deepened her voice. "'What idiot decided to hold this party at a public beach? It's sure to be muddy, and there will probably be dogs, and worse, small children throwing frisbees.'"

Edward scowled at her altogether accurate imitation. "Well, I want to go to the beach now. I want to hear the singing close-up."

Alice raised her eyebrows. "You actually want to do something outside of work? I'm not missing this for the world. You get dressed. I'll run and get the car."

He went into the bedroom to put on his clothes. But he made sure to leave the balcony door open so he could listen to the music while he dressed.

" _The world in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing…"_

-x-

"Psst. Cullen," said the kid across the aisle in the seventh grade choir classroom at Forks Junior High. The teacher's back was turned as he wrote a set of lyrics on the chalkboard.

Edward was staring out the window, watching raindrops slide down the glass. He hated rain. His dad had recently taken a position at the local hospital, their third move in only six years. Back in Arizona, when his dad had started complaining about incompetent staff, backbiting colleagues, and overly demanding administrators, he knew another move was coming.

Normally he didn't mind moving. His mother had loved living in San Francisco, but now that it was just him and his dad, there never was anything that made one place better than any other. And given how rainy Forks was, he shouldn't have minded the inevitable upcoming move, but this time, he didn't want to leave. There was something different in his life now.

He had a friend.

"Hey! Idiot!" The kid's voice got a little louder.

Edward stirred abruptly and jerked around to face him.

The kid rolled his eyes and passed Edward a small square of paper, folded many times.

Across the room in the soprano section, a petite girl with a mass of brunette curls raised her hand just barely above her waist, gave him a tiny wave, and grinned at him.

Edward's gloomy thoughts vanished in an instant and a wave of warmth washed over him all the way down to his toes, as though the sun had come out. He smiled back and opened the note.

"E—want to go for a walk after school today? I found something I'd like to show you. B."

Edward dug out his pencil.

"B— sorry, I can't. My dad wants me to go to some program at the hospital. E."

He snuck a look at her as she unfolded the note. She looked disappointed for a moment, then perked up, licked her pencil, and bent her head to scrawl something else.

"E— I'll see you at the library tomorrow, then, right? B."

He caught her eye and gave her a thumbs-up and a wide grin. He still couldn't believe his luck, finding a best friend who actually enjoyed meeting him at the library.

-x-

After school, as he got into his dad's Mercedes, Dr. Cullen asked, "How did you do on your biology test?"

Edward held out the graded test, complete with a smiley face from the teacher. "I got a 97. Second-highest score in the class."

Dr. Cullen took it and flipped a couple of pages. He grunted, tossed the test on the seat beside him, put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. "Only _second_ -highest? What did you get wrong?"

Edward squirmed. "I just got two of the stages of mitosis mixed up."

"What? How could you miss something so easy?"

"It's not a big deal, Dad, only three points. A 97 is an A. A high A."

Dr. Cullen's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Son, I'm disappointed in your attitude. As a future doctor, you're going to be held to a higher standard than everyone else. Is it really acceptable to allow three out of a hundred of your patients to die?"

Edward slumped lower in the seat. "I'm sorry, Dad," he mumbled. "I'll try to do better next time."

"That's my boy. Make me proud of you, son." He turned smoothly into the Forks General Hospital parking lot. "Now, I've gone to a lot of trouble to arrange this internship for you. Very few visitors are allowed to attend surgeries, but when I told them what a serious student you were and how eager you were to enter the medical profession, they made an exception." He set the parking brake with a snap and beetled his brows at Edward. "Make sure you don't faint this time. Don't embarrass me again, son."

Edward stared at the tips of his shoes. "Yes, Dad."


	3. Chapter 3

Alice pulled up to the front door in his silver Tesla Model S. Edward's feet crunched on the frost coating the slate paving stones, and icy air knifed into his lungs. The singers' voices filled the night and echoed from the walls of the houses around them.

" _Silent night, holy night…"_

He folded himself into the heated front seat and Alice said cheerfully, "You're giving me hope. I don't think I've seen you set foot outside your house or the office since that article in Forbes came out. Are you ready to stop moping?"

"I'm not moping. I'm just disappointed that I didn't do better."

She rolled her eyes. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you earn your investors a 10% return in a bear market?"

"Yes, but both Stearns Associates and Baron Funds earned higher rates. If I hadn't made that poor choice of holding Merck stock at the wrong time …"

"Jesus, Edward, when are you going to get over that?"

" _All is calm, all is bright…"_

"Some of my investors are retirees on fixed incomes. If I make a bad decision, they suffer."

Alice pinched her lips together. "Most hedge fund managers' highest goal in life is to bring home a big bonus. I think your investors are glad that you aren't buying pharmaceutical companies that sell $14 pills and jacking the price up to $750."

"Saying all I should aim for is avoiding securities fraud charges sets a pretty low bar."

She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. "I'm not telling you to give up your standards. I just want you to think about all the positive you've done rather than focusing only on the negative."

"I can't help thinking that I could've made some better choices."

Alice shook her head. They pulled up to the gates of the Windermere Beach Club and Alice inserted her card. The heavy metal gates swung open ponderously.

" _Sleep in heavenly peace…"_

-x-

Edward trotted up the steps of the Forks Public Library. He inhaled deeply as the glass door closed behind him. He loved the crisp dry smell of acid-free paper. It reminded him of the wealth of information here at his fingertips, unrestricted by teacher or parental guidance. The librarian nodded at him in a friendly way as he passed the checkout desk.

He hesitated a moment. He was supposed to be working on an extra credit biology project. But the thought of reading about cell division made his throat hurt. Instead, he headed to the financial section where the latest issue of Value Line had been inserted into a vinyl binder. Carting the heavy binder to an armchair, he sat down and began to take notes.

He had been poring over the tiny font and newsprint pages for nearly an hour when someone came and sat on the arm of his chair.

"Hey, Bella," he said with a wide grin. "Did you get the part?"

She perched on the armrest, her large brown eyes sparkling. "The lead female role! Can you believe it? They say it's the first time they gave it to a seventh grader."

He punched her in the shoulder. "Awesome! Congratulations."

"You'll come to the show, won't you?"

"I wouldn't miss it for anything."

-x-

"Bella, do you think I'm weird?"

They lay in the grass at the far end of the schoolyard. Sunlight slanted between pine branches in one of the Olympic Peninsula's rare 'sunbreaks.' Bella rolled over and cocked an eye at him. She was chewing on a blade of grass.

"Weird? Why?"

He picked up a twig and stabbed it into the soft dirt. "My dad thinks I read trash. He wants me to do some hobby instead. But I hate hobbies."

Bella shook her brown curls. "Do you really hate hobbies, or just the ones your dad picks for you?"

"He says I need more stick-to-it-iveness, whatever that is." He drew a couple of circles on the ground and then crossed them all out so savagely the twig snapped. "Like I should play the piano for ten years, or train for the Boston Marathon."

"He wants you to run marathons?"

"He subscribes to this newsletter for parents about strategies to get your kid into medical school, and it had an article about 'good' hobbies."

She choked. "Edward, that's crazy. You should do what makes you happy. If that's reading Value Line in your spare time, then great."

"How do you know what I read?"

She grinned and poked him in the side. "Who's been watching you lug those thick ugly binders across the library every Friday?"

He flushed. "My dad says it's boring and shallow, reading about stocks and investments. It doesn't have anything to do with saving people's lives, or making the world a better place."

"Edward, listen to me." She waited until he stopped scratching at the dirt with the broken twig and faced her. "I think it's neat. Following your passion, whatever it is, is what's important."

"So you don't think I'm weird?"

She was silent for a moment. "I think you're different, different from most of the kids around here, but it only makes you more interesting." She raised her large brown eyes to him. "You have to find your own path, whether or not people think you're weird. That's what's important, not what other people say."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"What's your path?"

She sat up and hugged her knees, gazing off into the forest. "I just want to sing. It would be cool to go into musical theater, but anywhere I can sing would make me happy." She rubbed her arm slowly. "Maybe it sounds silly, but when I sing, I feel like something in here is shining." She put her fist to her chest. "Like there's a light inside of me."

"I don't think that's silly. I like hearing you sing."

She was silent for a moment.

"Edward, do you believe in destiny?"

"Destiny?" He laughed. "I hope not."

"What if I told you I have a very strong feeling you're not destined to be a doctor?"

He stared at her. "What else could I be?"

She tilted an eyebrow at him. "Hmmm, when I look into the future, I don't see you in medicine."

Edward scoffed. "You're making it up. There is no such thing as seeing the future."

"OK, imagine yourself a doctor. For the rest of your life. Do you feel in your heart it's right for you?"

Edward grimaced. "The thought of it makes my throat close up. Like I'm choking. There's no air, and no escape."

"So don't be a doctor."

He laughed mirthlessly. "Just like that?"

She put her hand on his. "Yes."

-x-

Edward stuffed both hands in his pockets. "Um, Dad, there's something I'd like to do."

His father peered through his reading glasses at the latest issue of a medical journal. He didn't glance up. "Eh? What's that?"

"I've been doing a lot of research in the library, Dad," Edward said very quickly, "and there's this local company in Seattle that's going public."

His father grunted and circled a set of figures in the journal with a red pen.

Edward rushed on before he could lose his courage. "I'd like to invest some of my college fund in their initial public offering next week."

His father straightened abruptly and regarded him over the rims of his glasses. "You want to what?"

"You know, some of the money Grandma gave me for Christmas, that you had me put in my college fund. She said I could spend it on whatever I wanted. I want to invest it in shares of Microsoft."

"Micro-what?"

"Microsoft. They make software for personal computers."

His father took off his glasses. "Let me get this straight. You want to take your college fund and gamble it away on a hunch about computers? That's the stupidest waste of money I've ever heard of." He waved a hand dismissively. "Personal computers are a fad. We work with computing equipment at the hospital, and all we use are mainframes. I've been around a lot longer than you. You want a stable career. Fads come and go, but there will always be sick people."

"But Dad, Grandma said I could –"

His father set his pen down, very deliberately this time. "Edward, I'm your father, and I decide how you spend money. I said no and that's final."

-x-

The glittering cruise ship bobbed at the dock of the Beach Club. Warm yellow lights streamed from rows of windows outlined in red and green, and Christmas trees were visible on every deck. A crowd of festively-dressed families jammed the dock, drinking mulled cider and singing along with the choir.

" _Silver bells, it's Christmas time in the city…"_

Tickets had been sold out weeks in advance, but Alice murmured a few words to the uniformed purser at the gate. After he conferred briefly with someone on his cell phone, they were ushered on deck and into the warm and brightly lit main lounge.

"Why, hello, Mr. Cullen!" A tall, middle-aged woman swept forward and clasped Edward's hand in both of hers. Artfully-tousled blonde ringlets were gathered into a tiara on top of her head. "I'm Tanya Denali. On behalf of the Seattle Times Fund for the Needy, let me convey our deepest gratitude for your generous support of our cause. Your donation has made a huge difference in many people's lives this year."

Edward extricated his hand from hers and nodded stiffly. "You're welcome." The back of his neck felt hot. He forced a smile. "I'm happy to help out."

He glanced over her shoulder at the choir, now milling around on stage, chatting with the crowd. At the microphone, a slender woman with a thick flood of brunette curls was laughing and accepting congratulations, holding a huge bouquet of deep red roses.

Alice snickered. "Watch out. Edward gets way too embarrassed when you mention his good deeds."

Ms. Denali ignored her and continued thanking him effusively. Edward waited for a pause in the flood of words. "Your soloist is exceptional, Ms. Denali. Do you suppose you could make an introduction?"

"Tanya, please. Of course, of course." She led the way through the crowd. Edward followed and Alice trailed along behind, sporting a huge grin.

The soloist wore an elegant long black gown with a deep scoop neckline that highlighted her pearly skin. She was keyed up from all the attention, vibrant and excited, but there were lines of exhaustion in her face.

She was even more beautiful than he remembered.

"Isabella! Isabella, dear, let me introduce you to our top donor, Mr. Edward Cullen from Cullen Enterprises, Inc."

Bella's eyes lifted to Edward's and she froze. She stared at him, immobile, and the lines in her forehead deepened.

Edward jerked to a stop. Was she still upset with him over what had happened so many years ago?

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _If you had bought 100 shares of Microsoft stock at $21 in the initial public offering on March 13, 1986, and sold them at their peak 13 years later, your investment would have been worth $1.4 million._


	4. Chapter 4

For a moment they both stood unmoving, eyes locked to one another.

Bella's arms and throat were ivory silk against the black satin of her dress; her thick lashes framed irises of a brown so deep they melted into the edges of her pupils, and she wasn't wearing a speck of makeup. He remembered anew the courage he had felt gazing into those eyes.

The unassailable conviction he could do anything. That the world could be a welcoming place, if you only knew how to reach out.

Then Tanya finished the introductions, and a polite smile settled upon Bella's face. "Edward, how good to see you. We're grateful to you for your support of our cause," she said. She held out her hand for him to shake.

As he took her slender fingers in his, an almost physical shock struck him, tingles sparking from his fingers all the way down to his toes. Her eyes widened and she disengaged her hand, her polite, cool expression wavering slightly.

Edward found himself nearly overcome by an entirely inappropriate urge to bury himself in her warm, lush hair, to take those slim hips between both of his hands, draw her tight to him and never let her go. He became uncomfortably aware that he hadn't been in her presence since he'd reached puberty, and he suddenly felt like a hormonal teenager, his clothing disturbingly tight.

She swayed in his direction and then seemed to shake herself. She drew herself up, formal and stiff. For a second he imagined he saw some deep-buried hurt within her eyes, and then it was gone.

He rubbed the back of his neck. Something was terribly wrong. But what? "Bella," he said, fighting to keep distress and yearning out of his voice. "It's been so long."

He cast his mind back, trying to remember exactly what had happened before he left Forks all those years ago.

Bella was the one who had opened up his world. She had awakened his discontent with the narrow path his father had set him on, had awakened in him the desire to build his life on his own terms. She had encouraged him in every possible way.

But ironically, she had also enflamed his urgent craving to escape.

Bella planned to stay in the Pacific Northwest always. Her family and her roots were there.

He hated it.

He hated the rain and the damp, the small, grimy town where everyone knew each other, where he was always going to be an outsider and a loser, Dr. Cullen's kid, the one who threw away all his opportunities and never went to medical school.

Bella loved the rain and clouds, loved the constant drizzle. "Mist and fog are so romantic, Edward, don't you think? And it's so green here. So beautiful. Quiet."

"I want to go somewhere big. Somewhere where no one knows me, somewhere where I can be anyone I want."

"Sounds lonely to me."

"There are so many things I want to do, Bella. You're the one who got me started on it all."

"Will you write to me when you're in the big city, Edward?"

"Of course!"

-x-

"Dad, I'd like to see West Side Story at the high school."

His father grunted. "Why? Musicals are rather… lowbrow."

"My friend has a lead role in the show."

Dr. Cullen straightened. "Don't tell me you're talking about that Swan girl?"

"Bella, yeah."

"The daughter of the police chief?"

"Yeah, so?"

His father scowled. "Why don't I take you to Seattle instead, to see professional singers and actors."

"Bella sings better than any professional!" Edward clenched his fists.

Dr. Cullen stood up. "Son, this attitude is unseemly. Don't make me ground you again."

-x-

His father waved the piece of paper at him. "What's this I hear about you cutting classes? Don't you know grades this year are critical for college acceptance?"

Edward slouched in his seat, his hair flopping in his eyes. "I didn't get a 100 on the first test, so I figured it wasn't worth trying."

"According to this note from your teacher, you're going to fail. No Cullen fails in school, do you hear? I'm not paying for you to go to some rinky-dink college because your grades aren't high enough to get into a good school. And with this attitude, you'll never make it into medical school."

Edward dug his hands into his pockets. "Maybe I don't want to go."

His father's face turned purple. "I've been far too lenient with you. It's obvious that the discipline at the local public school isn't sufficient. You're going to boarding school!"

"Fine with me. I don't really care."

-x-

It had all happened so quickly. He hadn't been able to talk to her outside of school. There was only time for a few hurried notes, scrawled in his haze of confusion and despair.

"B—My dad is sending me to boarding school. E."

"What? When?"

"In a couple of weeks. We'll stay friends though, right?"

"Of course! I told you—I can see the future, and in the future we'll not only be great friends, we'll get married."

Edward scoffed.

"Liar," he wrote on the note. "No one knows the future."

"It is so true! I can see the future. I bet I'm right. B."

"Bet you $20 we won't get married. E."

"You're on! B."

-x-

Had he insulted her with the note? He'd thought she was joking. He had left Forks without saying goodbye. His father had grounded him and taken away his telephone privileges. Once he arrived at boarding school, he sent Bella a long letter apologizing and asking to stay in touch.

She never replied.

He checked the school mailbox for months, waiting for a response. They weren't allowed to make phone calls, so letters were all he had.

Eventually he had given up. What could he do? She must've been mad at him. It hurt, that she didn't even want to explain, didn't even want to say what he had done wrong.

In time, he told himself he didn't care. He had too many other things to do. He was too busy.

From someone else, years later, he'd heard that Bella had married Jacob Black, another Forks native.

He had dismissed it. Ignored the twinge in the pit of his stomach. He had moved on.

But still, all those years, a conversation would suddenly remind him of a phrase she used; a woman's hair would bring back the image of Bella's curls. He would see her face in his mind's eye; her voice would chime in his thoughts. It would often set him straight, would bring him mingled sadness and joy. How many times, weighing a decision, had he asked himself, "What would Bella do?"

He could never explain to anyone how often he thought of her. That he thought of her when he was with other women. That somehow no other woman was satisfying.

And could he possibly explain the dreams?

No. It was something he could never mention to anyone.

But now, standing close enough to touch her in the cheerfully-decorated, brightly-lit deck of the Christmas Ship, with songs of holiday wishes echoing around the room, he realized something else.

He missed her.

He wanted at the very least to be her friend again. A man and a woman could be friends, right?

Was Bella still angry that he hadn't said goodbye? She would never be so petty. There must be something else. He needed to find a way to talk to her.

To Tanya, he said, "Bella and I went to school together. Bella… is it Black?"

Bella shook her head. "Jake and I divorced a few years ago."

He glanced belatedly at her hand. No ring. "Bella… I—"

He stopped. He had been thinking of asking her out for lunch or dinner. But he couldn't. Not with Tanya hovering over them, desperately trying to make sure the choir made a good impression on their major donor.

He was all too familiar with the barriers his wealth created. The subtle pressures of power differentials mattered tremendously when it came to work-related socializing. When he entered a room, every face swung to his. People told him his ideas were brilliant. They laughed at his jokes so much more loudly now that he was CEO of Cullen Enterprises.

It was why he usually preferred to make his donations anonymously. His CFO had somehow slipped this one past him.

If he asked Bella out, it would be unfair to her. Tanya would pressure her to say yes. He couldn't even ask for her phone number.

He fell back on meaningless social convention. "I'm sorry to hear that." Of course he really wasn't sorry she was divorced.

Bella pressed her lips together briefly. "Don't be. I'm very happily single." Her voice was quelling.

He took a step back, resigned. "It does give one quite a bit of freedom, doesn't it?"

"Exactly."

A couple of high school girls approached, giggling and holding programs. "Ms. Swan! That was such an amazing performance! Will you autograph my program?"

She nodded to Edward and Tanya. "If you'll excuse me, please." She bent her head to her young admirers, attentive. Her smile was brilliant.

Edward watched as Bella Swan passed out of his life once again.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N:** Sophia and I updated two stories today: this one and our novel, Bitter Sun Rising. Lots of writing and editing back and forth with a good friend. Can't think of a better way to spend the holiday season! :) ~Alisa_

* * *

"You seem awfully distracted today," Alice said from the passenger seat. She chuckled. "Ever since you ran into your old friend on the Christmas Ship."

Edward grunted and signaled a lane change. "I just have a lot of work on my mind. Things happen during the holidays even though the markets are closed."

Alice smirked. "Why do I have the feeling that something more than stocks and bonds is going on under that sexy head of hair?"

"Alice, I have utterly no concern with your insinuations."

He pulled off I-5 South and bumped along the frontage road for a few blocks before turning west.

The two of them always spent the afternoon of Christmas Day volunteering at a Seattle soup kitchen, helping serve ham dinners to the homeless. They pulled into a parking lot and walked a few blocks in the freezing rain to the tidy three-story building. As usual, the line of people waiting snaked around the building and down the block.

-x-

The man shuffled across the worn green linoleum carrying his tray. "Hey," he said to Edward, "don't give me an apple." He chortled, baring a mouth that was nearly toothless. "I prefer soft food."

"How about applesauce then?" Edward asked, dishing out a large spoonful from the metal bin.

"Fine! But I'd sure like a big piece of that ham. It smells pretty good."

"No problem," said Alice. She carved off a slice with a sharp knife.

After he left, she rubbed her nose. "Poor guy. He was younger than you."

Edward snorted. "Meth really does a number on your teeth."

They worked for hours, serving the endless line of hungry people who had no other place to get Christmas dinner. Toward the end of their shift, the woman who ran the shelter nodded to them. "You've been on your feet for a while. Why don't you two take a break?"

The swinging door to the waiting room opened and Edward almost ran into the person coming in.

It was Bella Swan.

She was dressed far more casually than the last time he had seen her, yet it seemed he had never found a woman as sexy. She wore a faded sweater over a tight pair of jeans that hugged her well-formed ass. Her skin glowed and he wanted nothing more than to touch her to see if it truly was as soft and warm as velvet. His body prickled all over as though his blood ran with iron filings and she was an electromagnet. Involuntarily, he took a step closer.

Her jaw dropped.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

He bristled. "I volunteer here every month."

Alice leaned over. "He may look like just another rich asshole, but let me tell you, Edward is the sweetest guy ever."

"Alice—" he warned.

She overrode him, speaking more quickly. "But he doesn't like it when people say good things about him. Like he doesn't want to tell anybody about the time he took in a rebellious punk rocker 15-year-old stepsister when her mother died and no one wanted to be responsible for her."

Bella arched an eyebrow.

"By the time my mom married his dad, Edward had already left home, so I never knew him growing up. But after my mom's accident, the brother I never knew left his demanding and important job in New York City. He took a leave of absence just to come back to Juneau and take care of this basket case of a half-sister he'd never even met."

Edward scowled. "Alice, TMI."

"I just wanted to make sure you had the right first impression," she said to Bella. "He's too modest to say anything about it. And look – he's turning red. He always does that when people say nice things about him."

"Alice," he said suspiciously, "did you have anything to do with this? It seems like way too much of a coincidence that Bella and I would run into each other at a soup kitchen of all places after not having seen each other for years."

She put on an all-too-innocent air. "Me?"

"Yes, you."

She exhaled loudly and threw Bella an apologetic glance. "Well… I might have talked to Tanya and a few of her friends…"

"Alice—"

"Hold on and listen, Edward! I could see that you wanted to talk to her, but I could just hear the phrase 'power differential' buzzing around in your head. I knew you wouldn't even ask for her phone number with Tanya hovering like a helicopter parent. So I just happened to ask around and when I found out that Bella always volunteered at a different charity every Christmas, well…" She trailed off.

Edward lowered his brows. "Well what?"

"Well," said Alice in a small voice, "I may have bribed a couple of her friends to convince her to come to this one this year."

"Alice, what have I told you about interfering in my life?" He crossed his arms. "It's bad enough that you try to manipulate me, but now you're doing it to someone else? That's unacceptable."

He was going to continue, but Bella had clapped both hands over her mouth and was trying to keep from laughing. Edward glared at her indignantly. "I fail to see what's so funny."

Bella's mirth overflowed. She laughed so hard tears came to her eyes, and she almost fell off the bench. She put out a hand.

"No, really, I just can't believe you got us together at a homeless shelter. This has to win the prize for least romantic get-together ever. I mean, I've just spent a couple of hours mopping floors and carrying bags of garbage to the dumpster. Not to mention the creepy old guy with sardine breath who tried to hit on me."

"Hey," Alice said defensively, "it's in the Christmas spirit, isn't it? I mean volunteering to help others. Now if I'd arranged to have you two meet at a mall, then your argument would make sense." She became thoughtful. "Although maybe a mall would've been a better idea." She wagged a finger at Edward. "Now are you going to ask her out or not?"

Edward glowered. "Alice, what have I told you about your strong arm tactics? I don't think Bella—"

"No, really, Edward," Bella said, "one meal together to catch up on old times would be my pleasure. Forgive me for being somewhat taken aback to see you again after all these years. "

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't want to impose."

"Nonsense," she snapped, sounding like the old Bella he used to know, so much so that he cracked a little grin. "I'd be pleased to catch up with you again. I'm curious, actually, how your life has gone."

"Then how about dinner at Canlis, seven PM, day after tomorrow?"

"I'll be there."

-x-

He was seated at a small table at the most exclusive restaurant in Seattle, in his expensively tailored suit, sipping an aperitif and wondering why he felt more nervous than the last time he had risked a hundred million dollars on a leveraged buyout.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he glanced across the restaurant.

She stood framed in the doorway, unbelievably elegant in a deep sapphire chiffon gown that draped across one shoulder, a small beaded clutch in one hand, her astonishing flood of chestnut hair loose down her back.

Shivers of anticipation he had never felt before made his body vibrate like a tuning fork.

She approached, walking beside the server, the rhythm and lilt to her walk reminding him of Christmas bells chiming.

The restaurant featured a million dollar view of Lake Union, but that view was nothing in comparison with Bella. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

He stood to greet her. She nodded politely, and the server took her wrap and seated her across from him. She scanned the glittering lights of Wallingford and Gasworks Park beyond the lake and the buildings of the University of Washington in the distance. Her expression smoothed out and became peaceful.

"This is a beautiful view," she murmured. "Thank you for the invitation, Edward."

He felt as tongue-tied as an awkward middle school boy. "It's wonderful to see you again, Bella."

"And you," she said. "Please forgive me for being hesitant at first. I was surprised that you wanted to talk to me."

"Why would you be surprised?"

She waved it away. "It doesn't matter. Let's catch up on old times, shall we? I've of course heard a great deal about the famous Edward Cullen, who's now come home to his roots after making such a success of himself in New York City."

"I'd rather hear about you, Bella. Your singing is fantastic. I'm so glad you're still doing it professionally."

She beamed. "I'm glad too. I had to stop for a number of years and I missed it terribly."

"You had to stop? Why, if you don't mind my asking?"

She glanced at her hands. "We have been out of touch for a while. Here's the thirty-second version of my life. My senior year in high school, I was accepted to Juilliard with a full scholarship."

"Congratulations!"

"But then my dad had his heart attack, so I stayed home instead to take care of him."

"I'm sorry."

She lifted her head and smiled. "Don't be. He and I became closer than ever, and I'm thankful I had those years with him before he died. And then—" She glanced away. "Jake and I got married, and he didn't like me traveling. He wanted me to stay home. That kind of limited the options for musical performance." Her voice tightened a little.

Edward shook his head. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. Jake was a good friend, but marriage brought out the worst kind of possessiveness in him. It was not a good match. I'm much happier now."

-x-

Dinner passed altogether too quickly. Just as he had always remembered, they fit together so comfortably. He had never felt more at ease than when he was with Bella. She seemed to be enjoying herself as well.

It wasn't until dessert was finished and they were standing up to take their leave that he got up the courage to say it. "Bella, let me apologize again for not saying goodbye before I left Forks. And I regret missing your performance that week."

Her eyes widened. "I'm surprised you still remember that. Really, Edward, it doesn't matter. I heard that your father had grounded you and I knew you would have contacted me if you could."

"Then why—" he blurted out.

"Why what?" she asked with a raised eyebrow when he stopped himself.

"Why didn't you write me?"

Her hand flew to her chest. "Why didn't _I_ write _you_? Well, first there was that visit from your father."

"What? My dad said something to you?"

"Not to me. He came by our house and talked to my dad. " She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm not exactly sure what he said, but my dad seemed to think that _you_ had said you wanted to cut all ties."

"I never— Wait, didn't you get my letter?"

"What letter? You never wrote to me! But I wrote you. I sent you two letters. In the first one, I poured out my heart to you for five pages. You knew I had the biggest crush on you, right?" An old pain flashed in her eyes, but she shook her head, dismissing it. "I finally convinced myself to confess to you. Then I waited and waited for a reply, checking the mailbox every day for two months."

"Bella, I—"

"I couldn't bear to think that I had scared you off, that what my dad said was true, so I convinced myself you must have never received it, and I sent another equally heartfelt note, this time begging your forgiveness and asking you to just drop me a postcard saying we could remain friends. I pored over it, hoping to make it absolutely perfect." She traced a pattern on her glove with one finger. "But you never responded, so after spending months worrying what I had done wrong, I finally figured you had moved on."

Edward stopped dead still in the coatroom.

"Bella, I never received your letters."

"What? I know I got the correct address for your boarding school."

"All our correspondence went through the head office," he mused. "I wonder… could my dad have instructed them to intercept letters between us?"

She frowned. "That would be pretty heinous, even for your dad."

"But perfectly in-character."

"You never got my letters," she murmured. Then she laughed. "Oh Edward, if you only knew for how long I agonized over you. I thought I'd offended you terribly. Here I thought we were such good friends, and it was such a shock that you didn't even want to reply to me."

"Bella, I—" He stepped forward and took her hands. Electricity ripped through his body in lines of fire from his hands, up his arms, and straight down to his toes. He was never going to let her go again. "If I'd known you wanted to communicate with me, I would have moved heaven and earth to talk to you. When I sent you a letter and never got a response, I thought you were angry at me."

She laughed again, merrily this time. For the first time since he had seen her, he saw the old light and fire shine in her eyes. "In that case," she said, "why don't we try resuming our old friendship?"

"I can't tell you how happy that would make me," Edward said, his heart thudding in his chest. Had he drunk too much champagne? Bubbles were fizzing all over his body, leaving a feeling of incredible lightness behind.

"Your father's not going to object this time, is he?" she asked, her eyes dancing.

"No, no, my father's passed on."

"I'm so sorry," she said, abruptly sobering.

"Don't be. He retired to Florida ten years ago, and spent the entire time grousing about how busy he was in retirement, doing important stuff like waiting for the electrician or getting his yard re-landscaped one more time. When he finally passed, five years ago, I don't think anybody missed him."

"I am sorry," she repeated. She lifted a hand to his cheek. At her touch, he felt as though someone had lit a thousand Christmas sparklers under his skin. "He wasn't very good to you, Edward."

"I know." His eyes remained locked to hers. "Can we—can we get together again?"

A gamine grin split her face one more time. "I thought you'd never ask."


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:**_ _And with this we come to the end of our holiday story. Thank you all for reading and reviewing._ _Sophia and I loved the original Facebook post that started it all, and when we got the idea for the double entendre in the title we just couldn't resist. :)_

 _Special thanks to **SunflowerFran** who was kind enough to recommend this fic on her facebook group, __Pay it Forward_ _. :)_

 _ **NOTE:** We are truly honored that this fic was named one of the ** **Top 10 Completed Fics in Dec 2015 **** on www . twifanfictionrecs . com, and nominated for __Top 10 Completed Fics in all of 2015_ _._

 _ **NOTE 2:** We'd also like to thank **Tarbecca** who nominated this fic for the January 2016 **Fic Dive** on **A Different Forest**._

* * *

The dream began the way they always had. The dreams he had never told a soul about.

Edward stirred in his sleep, torn between vibrant joy and a vague sense of guilt.

He was lying in a warm bed soft as a cloud, gazing through a wall of windows into a forest of Douglas firs draped with fog. Maidenhair ferns, huckleberries, flowering currants, and horsetail carpeted the ground beneath the trees, dripping with dew. Mist coiled above the leaves and slid between the boles of the trees.

The sheets of the bed were ivory silk, the softest sensation he had ever felt, every part of his body draped with such smoothness he yearned to feel more.

Then the bed shifted and he realized he was not alone.

Her skin matched the ivory silk of the sheets; her hair swirled in a cloud of caramel and cinnamon. She sprawled across the bed, naked, her creamy limbs open to his touch, her inner thighs like buttermilk, her eyes lidded and wanton. His eyes traced the lines and curves of her body, the rosettes of her nipples, and the dark triangle below.

It was all there for his taking.

"Why do you turn me on like no other woman?" he asked.

She blinked her large brown eyes. "I'm the other half of your essence. We fit together like no others. The way puzzle pieces are perfectly aligned."

"But I don't believe in destiny."

A corner of her mouth turned up. "It doesn't matter if you believe. All that matters is that we're together."

He smoothed the delicate lines of her jaw with his fingertips and drew her face to his. Her skin was as soft as the underside of a rose petal. Her lips glistened like cinnamon and honey and he knew they would taste as sweet. He brushed them with his mouth; warm velvet and yielding mystery. With a sudden fierceness, he plunged his hands into her hair and yanked her to him. She tried to pull away with a teasing laugh, but his arms were like iron. He wrapped her up tightly, explored the soft cavern of her mouth at his leisure, tasted and possessed every corner of its depths, and she melded herself to him with a soft sigh.

He shivered with anticipation. He was going to map her sensitive skin, own every inch of her. His urgent desire would have frightened him if he feared anything any longer.

But he had left fear behind when he left his father.

She would be his, utterly and completely. He would turn his ferocious will to only one goal: to love her forever. To protect and cherish her, to enable her life to blossom. To make sure that when they passed from the earth, they would leave the tangible evidence of their love to carry on.

He kissed her fiercely and poured all his hope into the kiss.

He tangled his fingers in her silken hair and kissed down her throat. Her pulse throbbed beneath his lips and he fastened his teeth on her neck. She moaned and arched backwards, her skin fluttering underneath his grip. He brushed the underside of her breast with his thumb and she shivered under his touch.

He had to feel her everywhere. His hands slid down her torso, fastened on her hips, then slipped inside her thighs to tease her. He brushed her springy curls almost accidentally and she gasped so hard she almost choked.

He chuckled deep in his throat. "You're mine now."

He cupped her dark mound and her eyes flashed at him, fiery and equally possessive. She took his heavy shaft in her hands and trailed fingertips like satin over his exposed nerve endings. "And you belong to me."

He gasped. "You and none other."

They lay together as the misty dampness faded into a fog-shrouded night, and in the quiet dark they explored each other. For the first time he entered her, thrusting into her secret core and discovering only bliss within. She enfolded him in her heated silken sheath, and he wanted to push himself ever deeper into her, to press as close to her as possible, to become one with her in the holy darkness.

When they finally fell into sleep it was like a benediction, and for the first time in his life, he felt that his soul had at last been blessed.

-x-

The morning light fell across him and he opened his eyes.

He blinked.

It had not been a dream, but a memory.

A memory of the night before, and the woman of his dreams still lay in his arms, warm and fragrant and real. Happiness stole into his heart like small children burrowing into a pile of presents on Christmas morning.

He drew a hand through her thick auburn hair and curled it around his fingers. She opened her eyes and her lips parted in a smile full of joy.

"Bella," he whispered, "I love you, now and forever."

-x-

Six months later, in the long, long, sweet afternoon of a Seattle summer day, Edward and Bella celebrated their wedding in the Great Hall at Green Lake. The sun glittered off the water, kids and dogs played frisbee in the park, and Edward and Bella held hands, laughing, as they sauntered over the wide lawn, surrounded by the excited chatter of hundreds of friends.

Edward could not take his eyes off his bride. She was so beautiful in her wedding dress, the long falls of white silk trailing away from her tiny waist, her spectacular head of glossy chestnut curls falling halfway down her back. Edward wore a dark suit, immaculately tailored to fit his trim body. As usual, he had tried to comb his hair that morning but it still looked messy as ever.

Not that it mattered any more, because Bella had told him she loved it that way.

"Bella, I have something for you," Edward said, digging into his suit pocket. "I wanted to wait and give it to you after the ceremony."

"What?" Her eyebrows lifted with curiosity.

He handed her a small folded piece of paper and a $20 bill.

"What's this?" She turned the paper over. "A twenty?"

"Open the note."

"Note?" Slowly, she unfolded the tiny penciled scrap of paper and read.

"E. I can see the future, and in the future we'll not only be great friends, we'll get married. B."

She lifted her head and stared at him, speechless.

"You win," he said.

"What?"

"The bet. Don't you remember our bet for $20?" he teased. "I thought you knew the future."

"You kept it? All this time? " She held the creased, yellowed slip of paper loosely in her fingers, a bemused expression on her face.

He moved closer and placed both hands on her narrow waist. "Mm-hmm."

"But— why?"

"I think, even then, something inside me knew that you were the one for me. I was just too afraid, and still too much under my father's thumb to have any confidence in my own feelings." He took her face between the palms of both hands and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "I can't believe I was foolish enough to let you go. That we wasted all those years apart."

She linked her hands around his waist. "No regrets, Edward. Remember, nothing is wasted. I believe that all of our lives we've been growing just so that we could fit together perfectly on this very day."

He nuzzled her cheek and laughed. "You are wise as always. What would I do without you to set me straight?"

"You'd go back to being a grouch, so I guess it's good I'm planning to stick around." She poked him in the chest. "I forgot to tell you the rest of my prediction. We are going to live happily ever after and have gorgeous children. And in six months the Christmas Ships will have their first pregnant soloist."

He squeezed her tightly. "I'm not going to bet against you this time. I can't wait for the holiday season this year. Hard to believe I actually miss the cold and rain."

"I told you mist and rain were magical."

"You certainly did. But I can tell the future too."

"You can?"

"I bet that in less than thirty seconds you're going to kiss me."

"You know what? I think my psychic gift is contagious."

"Mmmm. Guess it is."

~END~

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ _Thanks for following along with us on this holiday journey. Happy New Year, and may your dreams come true in 2016._

 _We've had requests to expand this story to a novella, and we wrote many scenes we had to leave out. Please let us know if you're interested in either the novella or the outtakes. If people are interested, we'll post a note on this story so followers will receive an alert when we update._

 _We are always grateful for reviews, and if you liked this story, we would love if you recommend it to others_ _._

 _~Alisa and Sophia_


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